Buffalo LinkTheater High-Definition: A Linux Multimedia Center from End to End - page 3

Introduction

April 13, 2006

By
Dee-Ann and Robert LeBlanc

This system offers a variety of network-based features. To start, it
contains hardware allowing both wireless and Ethernet networking, which
makes it flexible enough to fit into whatever network configuration you
might already have.

Which option you choose is a bigger issue than you might think. The
wireless is 802.11g (802.11b is also supported), allowing you to
implement encryption so that other people can't hijack off of your
signal. While wireless is convenient, 802.11g only can reach speeds of
54Mbps. The Ethernet, on the other hand, bundled with this system is
100baseT (100Mbps), giving you approximately twice the speed as the
wireless connection. When watching multimedia, this difference in speed
can be vital. More importantly, though, is transferring large files to
and from the LinkTheater High-Definition and another system. Gigabit
Ethernet would be a welcome feature to accelerate such operations, at
least by those who have Gigabit Ethernet networks installed.

In addition to the fact that you won't want people spying on what you're
watching, any wireless computing device opens your network to potential
invasion. Most people today using broadband routers or hardware
firewalls--along with Linux users who have their own firewalls set
up--are using NAT (Network Address Translation), which affords a certain
amount of protection as anyone wardriving in the neighborhood has to set
up for the subnet each person is using.

On the LinkTheater High-Definition Media Player site, much excitement is
made of the AirStation One-Touch Secure System (AOSS). AOSS requires, to
start, an AOSS router from Buffalo Technology. Once you have this
router, any hardware that supports the proprietary AOSS protocol (a very
limited set of choices at this point in time, consisting of some Buffalo
Technology hardware, some game systems, and Intel Centrino through
compatibility) can be added to your encrypted wireless network by
pressing a few buttons. While such a feature is a great boon to those
who are not computer-savvy, saving people from having to fuss with
setting up all devices onto their proper subnet, it is fortunately not
an absolute requirement, since there is no Linux client available for
adding a laptop. Given the vendor lock-in, proprietary nature, and
limited industry support for this protocol, most Linux users will find
it of little interest. In addition, the unit uses DHCP by default--which
can be overridden--making it simple to integrate into networks that do
as well.

Speaking of security, the inability to use AOSS doesn't mean that you're
left without any options. The 802.11g protocol supports WEP encryption
and so does the LinkTheater High-Definition, for both 64 bit and 238 bit
keys. For many Linux users, this feature will be far more important than
those such as AOSS.